Jeff Scott

Oberlin French horn professor Jeff Scott also pursues a rich life as a composer. This spring, his pieces have been part of world premiere performances in New York and Detroit. 

Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall was the setting for a March 31 performance of his song "Für Meinen Vater" (For My Father). Scott’s song is part of a larger work which received its world premiere that evening, the song cycle Forgotten Voices. Commissioned by Music Kitchen—Food for the Soul, a project of violinist Kelly Hall-Tomkins, with additional support from Carnegie Hall, it features text by homeless shelter clients. The full cycle incorporates songs written by 15 award-winning composers, including Oberlin alumna Courtney Bryan '04.

Scott's most recent premiere on April 9,  was a commission of Chamber Music Detroit. Prior to his appointment at Oberlin, Scott was a member of the Oberlin alumni-founded chamber music ensemble Imani Winds. For this project, he collaborated with his longtime ensemble partners on the work, Fallen Petals of Nameless Flowers. The piece features poetry by Robert Laidler and is based on the experiences of four Michigan Juvenile Lifers. Imani Winds counts among its members three Oberlin alumni—flutist Brandon Patrick George '08, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz '94, and bassoonist Monica Ellis '95. View the full performance. 

Recently appointed Associate Professor of French Horn Jeff Scott will have a newly commissioned orchestral work, "Paradise Valley Serenade" premiered by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jader Bignamini, Music Director, over a three-concert series November 12-14. The work musically depicts the glorious histories of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, Detroit. These cities were known for their significant African American entrepreneurialism and thriving cultural scene, including an unrivaled Jazz club district. By the 1960's all but a few edifices were razed to make way for highway projects and "urban renewal."

Conservatory French horn professor Jeff Scott is also an accomplished composer. CSOtv, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s streaming platform, features his woodwind quintet work Startin’ Sumthin’ this February, part of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s Episode 2 broadcast. You can hear the performance at cso.org/csotv/features/black-history-month.